On Thursday 23 and Friday 24 November, the European Union and Canada – a member of NATO and the G7 – strengthened their cooperation in the fields of innovation, trade, climate and international policy at their 19th bilateral summit, held in Saint John (Canada).
“In a world of so many uncertainties, it is more important than ever to strengthen ties with friends”, summarised Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at the end of the summit.
Combatting climate change
The Presidents of the European Commission and the European Council, Ursula von der Leyen and Charles Michel, and Mr Trudeau announced the establishment of an EU-Canada Green Alliance to deepen cooperation in areas such as climate action, the transition to clean energy, environmental and ocean protection, green industrial transformation, sustainable agriculture, sustainable and zero-emission mobility, and research and innovation. “The establishment of a Green Alliance will deepen our already close cooperation on climate action and shared work to grow sustainable, competitive economies with good jobs”, states the joint declaration adopted at the summit.
As part of this, the EU has announced that it will become a partner in the ‘Global Carbon Pricing Challenge’ launched by Mr Trudeau at COP26. This challenge aims to increase explicit coverage of global emissions by carbon pricing to 60% by 2030, and to create a forum for dialogue, coordination and capacity-building on emissions trading. See the alliance: https://aeur.eu/f/9ra
CETA and green hydrogen
The leaders also discussed Europe’s supply of critical minerals, the economic results of the CETA and the future marketing of green hydrogen between the two regions.
For the Canadian Prime Minister, Canada must be able to “help” the EU to secure a supply chain for critical minerals, which Europe wishes to make a reality by “solemnly” inviting Canada to join its future ‘critical raw materials club’ due to be officially launched in early 2024.
“Canada is the only Western country to have on its soil all the raw materials needed to build lithium batteries”, explained the President of the Commission, pointing out that the EU was the 2nd largest importer of these resources.
CETA, the free trade agreement between the EU and Canada, also made an appearance. The European side was delighted with the “success” that this represents: “In total, our trade amounts to €118 billion”, insisted the President of the Commission. “CETA represents the importance for the Union of maintaining an open economy for the benefit of our citizens and businesses”.
Green hydrogen trading was also discussed: “We are going to put in place a roadmap that will benefit both our regions”, explained Ursula von der Leyen, pointing out that the EU has set itself a target as part of its Green Deal: to import 10 billion tonnes of green hydrogen by 2040.
Strengthening digital cooperation
The EU and Canada have also launched a digital partnership to work together in key areas such as artificial intelligence, secure international connectivity, cybersecurity, online platforms, digital identity and digital skills. See the partnership: https://aeur.eu/f/9rb
The leaders also announced the end of negotiations concerning Canada’s association with Pillar II of the Horizon Europe programme. The signing of the association agreement is expected to take place in 2024 and will enable Canadian researchers and organisations to benefit from funding. Canada was already participating in the Horizon 2020 programme.
The European Commission has also announced the conclusion of negotiations on the new EU-Canada data agreement on passenger name records (PNR). In 2017, the Court of Justice of the EU rejected an initial draft agreement with Canada as incompatible with certain fundamental rights recognised by the EU (see EUROPE 11837/2).
Ukraine and the Middle East as priorities
In the field of security and defence policy, the leaders welcomed Canada’s forthcoming participation in the EU’s permanent structured cooperation project on the network of logistics platforms.
The EU and Canada will also be stepping up their work on disaster response on a global scale, notably by signing the administrative arrangement on disaster and emergency management in third countries.
At their summit, the European and Canadian leaders also reaffirmed their support for Ukraine “for as long as necessary”, with Mr Trudeau announcing that 9 million rounds of ammunition would be sent to Kyiv, and emphasised their cooperation with Kyiv.
They also discussed the situation in the Middle East, welcoming the truce put in place in Gaza.
See the statement: https://aeur.eu/f/9rd (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant and Isalia Stieffatre)